An Open Letter to President Trump
By: Chandu Visweswariah
[Mount Rushmore image acknowledgment: By Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=90107110]
Dear Mr. President,
If this letter gets to you, I hope you read it because it describes the single most important thing you can do to boost your legacy. More on this a bit later in this letter.
Earlier today, I received a renewal notice stating that the premium for my homeowners’ insurance in Westchester County, NY, will increase by a whopping 36%. An accompanying letter explained the rate increase. “First, just as you may be feeling the impact of inflation at the gas pump and your local grocery store, prices to repair and replace New York homes have significantly increased over the past few years. Second, concerns around climate change and the increased frequency and severity of catastrophic weather events have led to an industry-wide increase in costs.”
Please don’t stop reading at the first mention of the word ‘climate,’ I promise you this will be worth your time. Whether or not climate change is a hoax, it has profound impacts on our economy.
The Los Angeles fires caused $250B of damage and economic loss. Home insurance premiums are spiking around the country, and in some cases insurance companies are pulling out of towns or regions altogether. As a percent of mortgage payments, premiums have more than doubled from 7 – 8% historically to over 20%[1]. From 2013 to 2022, average premiums have risen 31% across the country and are predicted to keep rising. Miami is facing an estimated 322% insurance premium increase by mid-century, while Hurricane Helene recently made it clear that no place is immune.
Three profound impacts are predicted in the coming three decades:
- Property values will decrease across 84% of all census tracts, wiping out $1.5T of real assests[1]. Climate risk is already a fundamental determinant of home value – Zillow, for example, estimates climate risks for every single property listing. Experts are going so far as to predict an economic collapse due to this profound change to the American dream[2].
- Property taxes and costs will rise due to required climate mitigation investments, such as storm pumps, sea walls, updated building codes and hardening of critical facilities.
- Climate migration within the U.S. will rise from 5.2M this year to 55M by 2055[1], with citizens being forced to abandon riskier geographies.
Unfortunately, property insurance, prices and taxes are collectively the tip of the melting iceberg. Fossil fuel is a 19th-century technology that is moribund, a product for which there will soon be no demand. Fossil fuel interests who contributed $75M to your recent campaign[3] would be best served by (and will thank you for) being prodded to invest in a new direction. America could lead the world in cleantech, creating jobs and securing future prosperity. The status quo, however, cedes all economic benefits to China[4] who is already a world leader in solar, wind, batteries and electric vehicles. Today, they have all the cards – will we have to kowtow to them because of your policies?
We can either continue to deny climate change, endanger the planet and crash America’s economy, or take on the challenge. Who needs the Paris Accord? Who needs a Green New Deal? Neither of them is good enough. We can set the country (and the world) on a path to accelerated net-zero, creating a massive win-win-win in terms of human health, the economy and the environment. It is a massive challenge, but if you set your mind to it, you can do it with a Trump Planetary Plan!
And now, back to your legacy. There’s a choice in the way you will be perceived decades from now. Long forgotten will be the price of eggs, undocumented immigrants and culture wars. Instead, there will be daily reminders of who led the effort to save the planet!
|
Status quo |
New direction |
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Declining real estate values; crashing economy; increased climate damage and loss of low-lying areas; extinction crisis; the era of Chinese dominance. I know you are annoyed that you were ranked dead last among U.S. Presidents for your first term[5] including among Republicans[6], but it will be worse if you will forever be known as the President who destroyed President Biden’s climate progress. |
History will marvel at your sagacity in rethinking your policy. Every time one of these happens, people will remember your efforts to minimize climate impacts: a) Extreme weather; b) Sea-level rise; c) Species extinction (we can name a species with the Trump moniker); d) Realization of health benefits; e) Economic triumph from 21st century energy technology. Yes, America can be great again! |
Climate change is real. So are tipping points. Scientists agree. Many Republicans agree. The impacts are stark, the choices clear. Please get on the right side of history and cement your legacy.
Sincerely,
Chandu Visweswariah, PhD
Vice-President, Communities United to Reduce Emissions 100% (https://cure100.org)
CURE100 is a non-partisan, non-profit consortium of communities that seeks to reduce global Greenhouse Gas emissions to net zero urgently and with high priority, through advocacy, education and campaigns locally and globally.
References
[1] First Street study (https://firststreet.org/research-library/property-prices-in-peril), see this New York Times article for a summary (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/03/opinion/home-values-insurance-climate.html)
[2] See predictions from Dave Burt, founder of DeltaTerra Capital (https://www.thecooldown.com/green-business/climate-change-housing-market-value-forecast/)
[3] New York Times, November 1, 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/01/climate/oil-gas-donations-trump.html
[4] CURE100 newsletter, January 2025, https://mailchi.mp/ee3e40a60dfd/cure100-newsletter-december-21-2020-meeting-tonight-16573126?e=69fd9e58b8
[5] The Guardian, February 20, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/20/presidents-ranking-trump-biden-list
[6] Post and Courier, February 28, 2024, https://www.postandcourier.com/news/scholars-rank-trump-worst-president-presidential-greatness-survey/article_8c775052-d025-11ee-9dad-17697b0ca965.html
